KNOXVILLE, Tenn.-- The
No. 9-ranked Kentucky Wildcats defeated the No. 12 Vols for the second time this
season Friday evening at the Goodfriend Indoor Tennis Center on the UT campus
in the SEC opener for both squads. The 4-3 win moves the Wildcats to 8-2 overall
and 1-0 in SEC play, while the Vols drop to 6-3 and 0-1 in the conference.

This match was supposed
to be different for the Big Orange, as they gained two valuable members back
for this match that were not available in the Vols' 4-2 loss to Wildcats
Feb. 9, at the National Team Indoor Tournament. The two players, senior Peter
Handoyo and sophomore Simon Rea did win their matches today, but the Wildcats
still had all the answers. The Wildcats began well taking two of the three doubles
matches to go up 1-0, but the Vols would fight back. Tennessee would win the
first three completed singles matches to take a commanding 3-1 lead behind the
fine play of Handoyo, senior Mario Toledo and Rea, who won at the 1, 3 and 4
slots respectively.

The Vols looked to have
the match well at hand when senior Adam Carey took the first set of his match,
but the Wildcats were not ready to give up. Kentucky's Evan Austin began
the Kentucky surge, when he came back and won the last two sets from Carey to
make the score 3-2 in favor of the Vols. The Kentucky emotion was evident, as
both Gustav Pousette and Rahim Esmail erased first set losses to the Vols'
Mark Dietrich and Wade Orr respectively, to hand the Vols their third loss of
the 2002 campaign.

"Congratulations to
Kentucky, they showed a lot of Character out there coming back from down 3-1
and losing the first set in all six singles matches," UT head coach Michael
Fancutt said. "I believe fitness let us down today and we will definitely
be working on that."

The Vols will be back in
action Sunday, as No. 27 Vanderbilt comes to town for a 1 p.m. SEC showdown.
The match will be played at the Varsity Tennis Center on the UT campus and admission
will be free.